An Ice Toa's Purr
by Scampercat101
Summary: Always make sure your feelings are true before you follow them - especially feelings of love. Oneshot, MatoroxHahli.


An Ice Toa's Purr

Explanation (MUST READ BEFORE YOU READ THE STORY): Basically, this is a oneshot idea from a story I'll probably never write. In it, the pairings are some mentioned Kopaka/Gali, Kiina/Mata Nui, and Nuju/Nokama, as well as the main pairing: Matoro/Hahli! Basically, Mata Nui and Kiina formed a "life bond" a long time back, and have recently passed away. Mata Nui has, however, brought Matoro back to life as the next Great Spirit (and in my story, each Great Spirit grows a set of huge wings within a week of earning their new rank, it's just that Mata Nui tended to not use his much as a Glatorian/Toa). Matoro, when the time comes, chooses Hahli as the one he wishes his life bond to be with, but she refuses due to her feelings for Jaller - said Fire Toa had not heard about such, however. Matoro, confused at the fact he's the only Great Spirit to date that has been refused, slowly sinks into life-threatening depression, losing sight of any reason to live. Meanwhile, Hahli reveals her feelings to Jaller, but finds out that he doesn't have romantic feelings for anyone, including Hahli herself. She receives a call from Turaga Nokama telling her that Matoro's condition is almost at death point, and she hurries to the clinic that Matoro's been taken to, realizing where her feelings truly lie along the way. She arrives just as Matoro's life fades, and tries nonstop to bring him back, for fear that she's realized her own true feelings too late. Meanwhile, the Great Beings talk to Matoro's spirit, showing him Hahli's change of demeanor, and finally they convince him to rejoin the living once more. This oneshot starts right before Matoro's heartlight rekindles.

(Edit - this story is now in the works, so no longer available as free bunny. Sorry. But at least there's a new story you can expect from me!)

_He can't be dead…. Please, don't let him be dead, if he dies it's all my fault….. Please… Don't let me be too late….._

These silent pleas rocketed through Hahli's mind as she used all her healing abilities and focused them on Matoro's heartlight, the silvery water glowing with contained electricity as she tried to jolt the Great Spirit back to the realm of the living. Once more she sent a bolt of lightning into Matoro's heart, not willing to give up until she killed herself. But this time, his body didn't even jolt as the lightning ran along it. Was it too late?

Hahli's attention was suddenly caught by the sight of Matoro's chest rising ever-so-slightly. The sound of a raspy breath being taken in met hear ears as Matoro's heartlight flickered feebly, then shone dimly. His life was temporarily rekindled.

_Thank the Great Beings!_

"He's alive!" she exclaimed to the Turaga as they entered a few minutes later. Their replies were lost on her - she was still busy healing the ice Toa as he lay unconscious. At last the feeble flicker had grown to a bright glow, and she allowed her hands to move from their place on his chest, sliding one to rest on Matoro's cheek. He mumbled something in his dreams, seeming to lean into the contact, his expression going slightly relaxed, almost as if he sensed her presence. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep as well.

Matoro looked around at the star-filled Dreamscape, feeling as if he was seeing everything from many places at once… As if he was the entire universe. _Technically I am,_ he reminded himself. No longer did he feel the great emotional depression that had dragged him down ever since Hahli had turned away from his hopes. Now it was replaced by a patient calm, a _knowing_, mixed with relief and something else…. _faith._ This emotion was no stranger to his heart, though it had been extinguished not long ago. It was faith in everything; in life, in his own capabilities, in the Great Beings who had advised Mata Nui on his choice of a successor, in his own existence. For once, he held no sadness.

He looked behind himself at his huge, feathered wings. No longer were they bloody and mangled from all those times he'd torn the feathers off on purpose in his heartbreak. Now they gleamed in the light of the millions of constellations, the way they had every time he'd stood on Lookout Peak, watching the world he'd been left to help thrive as it teemed with life…. billions of lives held steady by his very own.

All at once he heard, or rather, _sensed_ another fellow being joining him in the Dreamscape, a life he'd been enchanted by, intrigued by, every day. He turned around, and there she was.

_Hahli._

She calmly took a step towards him…. He sensed she knew of his own knowing of her change of heart. Suddenly her eyes became clearer, and in them, he saw timidness, and an unspoken request for forgiveness. He took an ever-gentle step towards her and stood there, arms outstretched. He was half of the embrace, and she finally completed it, stepping into his waiting wings and arms, and allowing his love to sweep into her own soul and ease her own fears. He held her against his chest, his collarbone serving as her headrest, his wings and arms a thick, soft quilt. He understood how she felt - at this point the bond was complete, and they both could sense everything the other felt, too calm and loving to want to ignore it. And, in the enveloping silence, a single sound trickled into existence, like a brook finding its way through the rocks.

Matoro, for the first time, was purring as all ice Toa do in times of true happiness and calm. And it was the most comforting, reassuring, soothing sound Hahli had ever heard


End file.
